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4.0 out of 5 starsPretty damned good
It's a pretty damned good album. The hard and heavy are well represented with "American Witch", premiered the other week on Jay Leno's show, the awesome "17 Year Locust" and the White Zombie-esque "Let It All Bleed". "Ride" is also pretty heavy, but nothing like previous Zombie. In fact, this is Rob's most adventurous record to date, musically. Lyrically it's pretty...

2.0 out of 5 starsNot zombies greatest hour!
recently got into rob zombie after hearing dead radio and really liking the album,went on to buy his back catalogue.loved all of them except this,its like he tried a image change that backfired really.the musics alot more mainstream,and he looks like that dick out of nickleback on the cover,not really relevant i know but he isnt helping matters.

It's a pretty damned good album. The hard and heavy are well represented with "American Witch", premiered the other week on Jay Leno's show, the awesome "17 Year Locust" and the White Zombie-esque "Let It All Bleed". "Ride" is also pretty heavy, but nothing like previous Zombie. In fact, this is Rob's most adventurous record to date, musically. Lyrically it's pretty similar stuff to before. The riffs and melodies here are something else. Lots of sinister clean melodies and bass rhythms, and even some piano and strings, give totally different feels to songs without the need for crushing riffs. Of course, when those riffs do come in, the impact is even greater.

"The Devil's Rejects", obviously about Rob's movie of the same name, is the natural partner to "House of 1,000 Corpses", the title song from his first movie. Another creepy, southern-country-infused slow-burner with plenty of steel guitars and piano.

The only song I'm not so keen on is "The Scorpion Sleeps", which is clearly Rob getting his Ramones fix. "Sawdust In The Blood" and "100 Ways" are instrumental pieces, the kind of which we're pretty used to on Zombie records by now.

As with all Zombie records it's still too short (only 38 minutes), but musically it's a remarkable piece of work.

I think the reason that "Educated Horses" is generally the least liked of Zombie's albums is because it is the most experimental, and people do not like change. I personally think it is his best, precisely because it stands out so much. The great thing about this album is that no two songs are alike.

"Sawdust in the Blood" is the intro to the album. Piano and acoustic guitar blend together wonderfully. This gentle sound is contrasted with a gritty crushing. It's strangely unsettling. As fast as this intro ends we are thrown into an entirely different atmosphere with "American Witch", a heavy song with some chugging guitar work and a chorus made to be sung along to. It's concise and fast paced. Not a second wasted. The pace is decreased a little with "17 Year Locust" which induces an unexpected middle eastern atmosphere. It's a calmer track, but I find myself head banging along with it from start to finish. In "The Scorpion Sleeps" Zombie projects a sound similar to his influences such as Alice Cooper. It is jumpy and makes you feel as though you can handle any mishap life could throw you. Then it calms down again with another filler track. I don't think it adds much, but it sure does change the mood. If you're listening to the album start to finish it will break things up nicely. "Let it all Bleed Out" is a brilliant heavy track with incredibly disorientating lyrics that I will never be able to interpret. Rob's voice sounds great and there is also a great use of melody. This is followed by "Death of it All", a gentle and harmonious track. This, in my opinion is the best track on the album. It clearly has a lot of heart put into it. Don't write it off because of it's lack of heaviness."The Devil's Rejects" is probably the second strongest track. It is eery, mean spirited and catchy. "The Lords of Salem" is the only low point of the album. My problem with this song is simply the tedious and dreary pace at which the song moves. A strange ending which ironically sums up the entire album.

Rob Zombie songs can take a considerable amount of listens before they are appreciated. This album is no exception. In fact, this album takes the most time to be appreciated. It took me three months! But I can't stress how worthwhile it is. Each and every track is wonderfully detailed. It is broad, heart-felt, and I couldn't recommend it enough.

I bought Educated Horses on the day of it's release, and I must confess that after a first listen I was dissapointed. At the second try I saw the record in a totally different light: the tracks are lighter, meaning, they are not as heavy as some of the songs that have been created by Rob in his musical carreer; but that should'nt make them less appreciated by Zombie fans. It's just "odd" to hear tracks such as "Death of it All", which really is the only acoustic song on the entire album. It's not odd tough to hear tracks like "American Witch", "Scorpion Sleeps" and "Ride", which are all, typically Rob Zombie tracks; heavy, lumpy, industrial guitars and basses are used in those songs making them, well, not just catchy and pleasing to the ear but GOOD, which is different from CATCHY. There is not that much to say really, it's a pretty straightforward album, no hidden messages, no real development; at the very least I could say it's less industrial than the previous records he has released. It is my opinion, of course. People, it's Rob Zombie. All I can really say is it will not let you down, not even if you are a big fan of the artist.A good buy.

My favourite Rob Zombie album was "the sinister urge". This i found a bit less heavy but it is still good, all the usual samples and riffs are there but it all sounds a bit subdued. At times his voice even reminds me of Alice cooper which isn't a bad thing just a bit slower and lest aggressive than before, saying that the more i listen the more i like it. A good Rob Zombie album but not a great one.

This is a great album! If you're into the La Sexorcisto-era White Zombie and not quite as fond of Rob's previous solo efforts, then I strongly advise you check this out. It's a very diverse album; quite light on the synths and samples but has very strong melodies and would be good for any fan of the stoner rock genre.

Sadly, many White Zombie fans will disregard this album as being more of the Dragula type stuff which can come off as a bit too processed. Far from it. This is good ol' fashioned gritty southern fried metal Zombie style.

recently got into rob zombie after hearing dead radio and really liking the album,went on to buy his back catalogue.loved all of them except this,its like he tried a image change that backfired really.the musics alot more mainstream,and he looks like that dick out of nickleback on the cover,not really relevant i know but he isnt helping matters.

With so much good music from Rob over the years as well as his awesome gore fest films, i have to say i was a little bit apprehensive about this new album. HOW WRONG I WAS, not only is this album full of fresh ideas and sounds with 'Foxy, Foxy' it still keeps with the hardcore metal and classic Rob style with tracks like 'American Witch' and 'Let It All Bleed Out' (which i have to say is my favorite of the album) there's something on here for everyone from the old school White Zombie fans to the new age fans that are just discovering the legend that is Rob Zombie. This is a must have record for anyone who loves Rob's music as much as i do and you would be a fool not to own such a brilliant album.

Let's set the record straight; I love Zombie's work. The guy is one of the reasons I got into heavy rock/metal in the first place. His work with White Zombie was ground-breaking in many ways, his solo efforts have been phenomenal 'club-metal' (I own one of the limited edition copies of Sinister Urge...y'know the one you got the free CD with??) and his recent "Best Of" album featuring collaborations with such diverse talents as Lionel Ritchie, Alice Cooper et al was actually a hell of a lot of fun.

So what went wrong here? Gone are the quasi-thrash guitars that made Feel So Numb and Dragula instant hits. The heavy sound of his previous two solo projects is gone, MIA. So too is the experimentalism that made La Sexorcisto so superb and the downright head-bangin' playablility of Astro-Creep. What we're left with is an experimental album devoid of much life. The Scorpion Sleeps has a stadium-rock feel to it, but lacks bite and the Devils Rejects theme seems like House of a 1000 Corpses (from SI) re-done with different words (much like the film then?).

At the end of the day, Zombie albums have never disappointed me until this one. After a 5 year wait and some promising material on Past Present & Future, maybe I had my hopes set too high. But this has been utterly surpassed by Wednesday 13 in my CD player since it's release. That says something...

oh dear oh dear. Having been a White Zombie and then a Rob Zombie fan I have listened to this guy for some years now. This album is poor to say the least. I know they say dont judge a book by its cover but the cover picture was the first warning. Gone is the Zombie imagery, gone is the dark, sexy tunes of Hell and High jinx. Sadly gone is the passion, hooks and good songs.. Either buck up your efforts or retire to the sad world of directing mediocre movies mr Zombie.